Throughout the first three months of 2025 Clifton have placed themselves as the only team in National League South in a position to challenge league leaders Camborne for the promotion slot.
At the turn of the year, they were in a pack chasing the Cornish club. Their unbeaten run extending into March with several bonus points has placed them well ahead of other clubs originally challenging for the top place.
Very early in the season Clifton had an influx of new players, and it took time for the team to become settled. Since October their only defeat up to mid March was at the hands of Camborne and the settled team has suffered from few injuries.
There have been some outstanding individual performances, team moments and appreciated supporters. Bonus point wins and home and away successes over long established Westcountry rival Redruth and Taunton were hard fought.
Clifton 39 Redruth 28
Encounters between these two clubs with strong bonds of mutual respect always provide tension and entertainment. This game was no exception with Clifton pulling away at the end. Their strong bench of replacements was released on to the pitch at an appropriate time.
Early pressure with a probing kick from scrum half Mitch Spencer saw Clifton held up over the line. Fast passing sent outstanding number eight Niall Gibbons on a swerving run to the line with Ollie Milner converting the try.
Winger Alex Howman then opened up the Redruth defence and soon after a lovely pass allowed centre Marcus Nel to outstrip the opposition to touch down. Howman scored again and later in the match fresh legs from the bench gave the impetus for hooker Tom Anderson to score twice as the lavender and blacks set up camp on the Redruth line.
Taunton Titans 7 Clifton 26
This game had barely got under way when Clifton, to the delight of their travelling fans, sent winger Zak Hamid on a run from deep in his own half to weave along the touchline to brush aside tacklers and deliver a well timed pass to Ollie Milner and send him over the line. Strong running by forwards and backs exposed Taunton’s weaknesses. Niall Gibbons broke from a scrum to send Luke Daniels across the line and within minutes second row Toby Hutchinson powered through weak tackles to score. A clever switch saw Mitch Spencer send out a long pass to Marcus Nel who crossed with two Taunton men failing to contain him.
Roger Opie